There is no sign of unity being forged between the latest factions of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), one led by information minister Hasanul Haq Inu and the other by its immediate past committee’s general secretary, Sharif Nurul Ambia. Although leaders of the two factions have sat across the table twice, they have not been able to reach consensus on resolving differences. On March 12, some senior leaders of the Ambia faction walked out of the national council session, saying that its leaders had been chosen in an “undemocratic way”.
At the council session, the Inu faction formed a central committee and re-elected him (Inu) as president, Shirin Akhter as general secretary and Robiul Alam as executive president of the left political party. This correspondent tried to learn about the latest stand of leaders of the two factions and found that they are still holding on to their respective views. Talking to The Independent on Monday, Ambia said there was no possibility of the two factions coming together because of the uncompromising attitude of Inu. “Yes, we have sat across the table twice, but we are yet to reach consensus. The Inu faction does not want reuniting of the two groups and that’s why it is refusing to budge from its position. During discussions we proposed that a fresh council should be held for electing the party’s next leadership in a democratic manner. We have said that a fresh council is the pre-condition of unity. If they do not accept our proposal, it is not possible to forge unity with them,” he insisted. When contacted, JSD leader Shirin Akhter said they want the two factions to unite, for which they are continuing discussions with “rebel leaders” of the JSD.
“If the rebel leaders accept the party’s recently held national council session, everything will be all right. They should accept it. Even the party’s election commission has described the party council as legal. But they won’t accept it, which is very unfortunate,” she added.
Shirin Akhter, also a lawmaker, said since its inception the JSD has been fighting for ensuring the rights of the masses despite facing a split. On March 24, there was a fresh rift in the JSD led by Inu. A group of leaders announced a new committee headed by Ambia. At a press conference at the Parliament complex, Ambia had said they also want unity. “The new committee will be dissolved if the other side accepts our proposal,” he had added. The faction went on to name Ambia as president, Nazmul Haque Prodhan as general secretary and Moinuddin Khan Badal as executive president of the party.
The JSD came into being after a group of leaders left the Awami League on October 31, 1972. Since then, the party has faced splits on several occasions. The first split was in 1981 when Khalequzzaman left the party and formed Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal. In 1984, party president Abdul Jalil left the party and ASM Abdur Rob and Shahjahan Siraj formed two JSD factions. In 1986, the Shahjahan-led faction split into two—one led by Shajahan Siraj and the other by Kazi Aref Ahmed and Inu.